Yahya Injured; Poirier Draws Replacement Young at UFC 131

An undisclosed injury has forced Rani Yahya
from his scheduled UFC
131 featherweight scrap with Dustin
Poirier, the UFC announced Tuesday. Taking the Brazilian’s
place against “The Diamond” will be Octagon newcomer Jason
Young.

Headlined by a heavyweight No. 1 contender bout between Brock
Lesnar and Junior dos
Santos, UFC 131 goes down June 11 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver,
B.C., Canada. The event will also feature Shane
Carwin, as the former title challenger returned from neck
surgery to take on the grappling champ Jon Olav
Einemo.

Representing London’s
Team Titan, Young rides back-to-back victories into his
showdown with Poirier. The Brit is a veteran of the defunct Cage
Rage promotion and holds three of his eight career victories by
knockout. “Shotgun” most recently outpointed Jorge
Britto on April 2, notching his fourth career win by
decision.

After earning seven consecutive victories to start his career,
Poirier was outpointed by Danny
Castillo in his WEC debut last year. The 22-year-old rebounded
from the defeat with a stellar performance three months later at
WEC 53, knocking out Zach Micklewright just 53 seconds into their
bout. Poirier was successful in his UFC debut less than two months
later, as he battered contender Josh Grispi
for three rounds en route to a one-sided unanimous nod.